There’s always a lot going on during the weekend. If you weren’t lucky enough to spend the past two days on the couch, you can catch up on the top five sports items you may have missed here.

No. 1 – Candlestick craziness: San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins racked up slightly more yardage than the fans at Candlestick Park on Sunday.It’s hard to tell who carried themselves worse in the process, Hawkins, or the three fans that rushed the field.

Hawkins tallied 127 yards, including a 105-yard touchdown on a kick return, but he also racked up a mind-boggling three penalties in his two plays. 49ers cuts come on Tuesday, and Hawkins acted a lot like the fans that were seeking a fleeting moment of fame on national television.

Put another way, the next time Hawkins gets on this field, he will be chased by security.

No. 2 – Barton…: The Oakland Athletics are flatlining. They are 16-19 since the All-Star Break, trailing the Rangers by2.5 games and clinging to the second American League Wild Card spot.Bring on Daric Barton!?

I kid, I kid. (Image courtesy AP)

The offensively challenged first baseman has been called up with right fielder Josh Reddick going on the DL with wrist issues. The A’s front office has a pretty remarkable track record lately with their decisions, but this one boggles the mind. The A’s have scored 136 runs since the All-Star break, which is the fourth-worst mark in the AL over that span.

Barton will now be the left-handed half of the A’s first base platoon, allowing Brandon Moss to move to right field. The A’s take an offensive hit at first base and a defensive hit in right field with this move.

The A’s need a spark now. Not roster filler. Barton was hitting .297 with a .423 on-base percentage in Sacramento, but they’d get a bigger lift by giving slugging Triple-A outfielder Michael Choice a chance. Choice is hitting .300 with a team-leading 88 RBI, and is second on the team with 14 home runs. Oh, and he’s an outfielder. You know, like Reddick.

Barton has experience at the big league level that Choice doesn’t have and he is a capable defender, but he hasn’t performed well offensively since 2010. How many more chances will he get to prove himself?

No. 3 – Pill and The Thrill: Brett Pill was born in 1984. Will Clark began his career with the Giants in 1986. Despite the age difference, the two formed a bond over the weekend. Clark, a five-time All-Star with the Giants, took Pill under his wing and could be seen mentoring him in the dugout. CSNBayArea.com’s Joe Stiglich detailed The Trill-to-Pill connection.

“It’s awesome having him around,” Pill said Sunday morning. “He called me over and was talking to me about the at-bat I just had –- what the pitcher would try to do to me and how to combat that.”

With the team out of contention, Pill is being given a chance to show what he can do. He even started in left field on Saturday. There’s no word on if the Giants will bring in Kevin Mitchell or Barry Bonds to mentor him when he’s out there.

No. 4 – : Cribbs cut: Lacking that explosive burst and speed that made him an All-Pro kick returner, Josh Cribbs was cut by the Raiders over the weekend. Our Raiders insider Scott Bair got the explanation from head coach Dennis Allen.

“It was just one of those things where I didn’t see everything that I needed to see,” Allen said. “Josh Cribbs has been a great player in the National Football League for a long time. We just felt like it was the right thing to do, if we didn’t see him in our plans, to go ahead and let him go.”

Cribbs is recovering from offseason knee surgery. It is apparent he needs more time. There’s a strange side note to the Raiders cutting the veteran speedster: He has already taped an episode of FX’s hit TV show “The League.” It will be interesting to see how they handle this development.

“It’s about the move from Cleveland to Oakland,” Cribbs told Field of Teams, in an interview shortly after arriving at Raiders training camp.

No. 5 – Peyton Manning runs “The Play”: The Denver Broncos used the most celebrated play in San Francisco 49ers history on Friday. Manning called an audible and yelled “Roll Montana” then executed The Play as made famous by Joe Montana and Dwight Clark — Sprint Right Option.

Manning played the role of Montana and Demaryius Thomas acted as Clark.

Three to see:

If you’ve made it this far, clearly you have some time on your hands. Here are three stories that you simply must see: